City Profiles

Those who are not familiar with United States geography might have never heard of Rhode Island. The smallest state in the country is often confused with Long Island, which is in New York, or tends to conjure up an image of some sleepy little New England town that you might have seen once on a postcard. Yet in reality, Rhode Island is one of the most culturally diverse states in the country. It’s capital city, Providence, is known for it’s mouth watering local cuisine, ranging from New England clam chowder, to authentic Italian, as well as numerous notable Universities and a thriving creative scene.

Latvia is a Northern European country that keeps welcoming you, no matter what you are after – culture, nature or business. It is also a place where coworking seems to be developing as a new work model for freelancers and startups, and the capital city Riga stands in the middle of it to ensure that everyone’s taste is satisfied. So, what is the profile of Riga? Let’s take a ride to find out the most interesting work spots in the city!

The coworking movement has spread like wildfire in recent years, and as a result we are finding coworking spaces popping up in every corner of the world, from tropical islands, to once forgotten industrial spaces. Today the coworking movement is quickly becoming the dominant creative approach to the self-employed workforce. Recently, Deskmag stumbled upon a coworking space that is the very first of its kind in Myanmar’s capital city, Yangon.

Bulgaria has always been a country with many faces. Throughout the long history of the country there have been many turns and twists, which have shaped the nation that lives there today. Newly found companies are increasing and at the end of the day protests are organized and visited by the young and spirited people, all intertwined in a strive for a better future. This vibe that has set upon Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, has pushed us, the people who do business here, to tell you more about the country and why we are eager to see you at our coworking places.

By all accounts, Nashville, Tennessee, has been on a great run recently. It’s got a hit TV show named after it, a bustling healthcare and music industry, and both The New York Times and Forbes have named it a top city in which to live. Jack White, Nicole Kidman and Johnny Depp all have homes there. It welcomes over 10 million tourists per year to its bustling downtown and authentic honky-tonk bars. And it has no state income tax, a fact that drives many business and entrepreneurs to relocate there. So how vibrant are the freelancing and coworking sectors in this up-and-coming city? Lets find out.

Serbia lies at the crossroads of Europe, connecting East and West with a diverse mix of cultures. The landscape is sprinkled with medieval churches and fortresses, and the capital city, Belgrade, rests on the banks of the Danube. Yet the country is facing scarily high unemployment rates, especially amongst young people. Three young entrepreneurs in Serbia have decided to take matters into their own hands, and address the future of work in their country through the coworking and incubator models.

Toronto is the metropolis of Canada. A city with 6 million people, pigeons and condos, which seem to constantly multiply when your back is turned. Facing onto Lake Ontario, just a five-hour drive from Detroit, and a 1 hour flight to New York City, be sure to check out the Toronto Island Airport and, of course, the eclectic coworking scene.

Coworking in Washington D.C. may sound a bit unnecessary. Don’t all the lobbyists and lawmakers already work in giant blocks of grey concrete on Capital Hill? While you may think of D.C. as a city of politicians, policy wonks and paper-pushers, it is actually home to a surprising number of coworking spaces. What’s more, they are increasingly modern and innovative.

Coworking Spaces and the reinvention of the US Midwest—With the mention of coworking spaces one usually thinks of large, tech savvy cities that have always been in the world spotlight, such as New York City or London. But as the coworking movement has spread, it has now caught the interest of smaller cities. In the US Midwest coworking spaces have begun to open, largely in parallel with the evolution of the tech industry, driving the development of new industries in the US Midwest.

The Nordics has got a bad rap – at least, their weather does. If you're in Oslo in January, there may be an insurmountable snowstorm. But if you're in Helsinki in June, you'll find 24-hours of sunlight during midsummer season. Just as it is constant midnight during winter, the sun doesn't fully set in the summer. Deskmag looks up – way up – into the Nordic coworking scene. From Reykjavik to Malmo, here is a peek inside some of the coolest, business traveler-friendly coworking spaces found up North.

Brazil is one of the fastest growing economic realities in the world today. Coworking is also on the rise and presents itself to be a complex network of work environments within a dynamic market. Through a recent study conducted by Brazil’s workstyle magazine, Movebla, we can now explore different parts of this multilayered movement in figures. Deskmag also asked some operators how they personally came in touch with coworking in Brazil.

Mexico is far more than just tacos and Frida Kahlo. In fact, Mexico is known for being the second largest trading partner of the US, after Canada. The 13th largest nation in the world with 50% of the population under the age of 29. Needless to say, their startup scene is growing, and since Deskmag covered coworking in Mexico two years ago, we have seen some changes that indicate a bright future for the coworking scene.

Russia is the biggest country in the world, populating one-eighth of the Earth’s landmass, spans across nine time zones, bridging Scandinavia and Asia. Over in the west, Russia’s two largest cities take hold. Deskmag takes a peek inside the coworking spaces of St. Petersburg and Moscow to find a thriving scene in both cities.

Intimate, vast, directly next to the train station and located in the design district, which is fashion oriented, specialized in start-up digital marketing, music and graphic arts, is where you will find the best of Milan's co-working spaces. In our quest to portray the diversity and richness of the coworking movement, Deskmag visited five extremely different spaces in order to give you a taste of an Italian coworking appetizer (or in Milanese, an aperitivo).

Admit it: Coworking can get boring sometimes – that is, unless, you are getting creative with you coworking. Far from traditional coworking, some of the creative coworking spaces in Berlin offer perks that are off the charts – free exhibition space, clown workshops, jungle rooms, office mascots and retro mini-blinds.Deskmag takes a tour inside a few creative coworking spaces the city has to offer.

Hamburg is the second biggest city in Germany, next to Berlin. The city could be considered Berlin’s prettier and richer little sister, and since it is smaller, it could also be seen as limited in the coworking world. But even though the coworking space density does not compare with Berlin, coworkers and freelancers still have many options. Deskmag went out to have a closer look at the coworking spaces in the hanseatic city.

Before last year, coworking was largely unknown in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In fact, the city is still in the process of learning about the advantages of the coworking movement. In late summer 2012, a number of coworking spaces popped up, more or less simultaneously, in different parts of the city. The different space try to work alongside one another in order to cultivate coworking culture.

In a modernized city like Seoul, where traditional values are still the cornerstone of the society, the coworking movement that has seen a rising popularity in Asian economies like Singapore and Hong Kong, is taking a slower growth in the Korean capital. However, for eager hearts that want to make it work, looking for more and better possibilities to build a collaborative community is the key.

It has been a while since our last update on coworking spaces in London, so we thought it was time for a series of spotlights on the different boroughs that make the city one of the most vibrant and diverse coworking industries in Europe. We will kick it off by checking out the ever-busy creative confines of Hoxton, London.

Maneuvering the vast urban sprawl of downtown Los Angeles can be a challenge for anyone, vever mind the progressive freelancer in search of a make-shift work station in one of the most spread out cities in the world. Due to the art and movie industry, it also makes L.A an epicenter for creatives and freelancers alike, perfect for a recent transplant in search of a coworking space nearby, preferably with character? Take a skim of the hotspots below, but be sure to google map wisely, as each may not all be traffic-worthy feats depending on locale.